Difficulties in Earthquake Design due to Standards Limits on an Extensive Offshore Bridge, Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah Causeway in Kuwait.

The project design of the Subiyah link of the Sheikh Jaber Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah Causeway in Kuwait was implemented after lengthy discussions and research due to limits in the standards. With 36 km of viaducts in this link, all design decisions had a significant impact on quantities and hence on costs. The project is based on 2.5 and 3.0 m monopiles, but the requirements of the design standards are not fully adapted for such diameters. Moreover, some additional project requirements, which are not addressed in most of the codes, made the design more complex. All of these parameters led to difficulties in earthquake design regarding the R factor value, capacity design, seismic detailing, P-delta effect, asynchronous motion and seismic design of bearings. The aim of this article is to present all the difficulties in the design of atypical structures, the related discussions and research, and the numerous comparisons that have been made with Eurocode 8-2 to find a consistent design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]